Monday, March 9, 2009

UBL:Ameen and Bank Keshavarzi lead sharia growth Lists

The leading countries in the world, based on sharia-compliant assets (SCAs), are determined not only by the size of each country’s overall financial sector but also by the degree to which the country is sharia ¬compliant. As economies evolve and financial institutions do more business through Islamic or sharia-compliant channels, leading countries such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait will rise up the rankings.Heading the fastest growing by percentage change is Pakistan’s UBL Ameen with growth of 3925.2%. This is followed by one of the major banks in the entire listing, Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank, which shows growth of 772.1%, and then Pakistan’s Askari Bank and National Bank of Pakistan with growth of 600.5% and 366.2%, respectively.Included in these leading fast-growers are also a number of insurance companies: Watania Co-operative Insurance Company, El Nilein Insurance Company and Allied Co-operative Insurance Group, which have growth rates of 314.6%, 300.9% and 275.7%, respectively. Heading the fastest growing group in dollar terms is the Iranian bank, Bank Keshavarzi, with growth of $16.3bn in SCAs. Kuwait Finance House is another significant mover, jumping up by $9.5bn in SCAs.Among the leading 10 institutions in this growth category are six Iranian banks, which all claim that their entire financial assets are 100% sharia compliant. As a mark of new players in this field the UK-based HSBC Amanah is placed sixth on this growth table, with expansion of $5.5bn in SCAs. http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/6131/UBLAmeen_and_Bank_Keshavarzi_lead_sharia_growth_lists.html